Eden
by Psycho Babble
Summary: Another Halliwell pays a visit back in time
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Charmed characters. The song belongs to Evanescence

The character of Grace is mine.

Garden of Eden

Rated NC-17 – Incest, rape, violence

This fic is AU. Some of the characters may be changed around a little bit. I'm also making Chris a few years older than he actually is.

This is also my first incest (m/f) fic (yay for me) I finally decided to allow my warped little mind to enter into the underside of fanfic writing (like it hasn't been living there for a long time now…)

Part 1: Escape

"I want to know where the rest of them are." He stood over me, the whip in his hand cracked as it came down on me again. The whip would cut through flesh, but when it hit he would also let a lightening charge run through it, causing my body to jerk and spasm uncontrollably.

"This can all be over. All you have to do is tell me where they're hidden."

"I'll never tell you." I whispered painfully. He shook his head almost sadly. But I knew better than anyone that he enjoyed causing pain. He dropped the whip on the floor. The smile on his face was lecherous. His hand moved to his pants and he started to unzip his fly. He crouched on the floor next to me; there was no need for him to remove my pants because any clothes I had been wearing had been taken from me weeks ago.

"You look so good with blood on you." He reached down and ran the tip of one finger along one of my many wounds, coating his finger in blood. He brought it to his mouth and licked it clean.

"You're getting a bit thin though." I stared at him, refusing to say anything. The chains rattled as I moved my hands, he laughed at my vain struggles.

"Don't bother, you know that isn't going to do you any good." He grabbed my arms and turned me over roughly. Begging him not to just made it worse. I could feel him thrusting into my back passage and despite my promise to myself that I would stay silent I cried out in pain.

"That's real nice. Scream for me." He whispered in my ear. I closed my eyes tightly and endured. I could hear him grunting as he moved harder and faster. I clenched my teeth hard, but I didn't notice the pain when I closed my teeth on my inner cheek and lip. With one final deep thrust inside me he collapsed on top of me breathing hard. After a moment he pulled himself out and rolled me over on my back. He smiled down at me.

"You're perfect." He said. I didn't have to wait long, I knew it wasn't over. After a few minutes he rammed into me, raping me. When he was finished he stood up and walked out.

I curled up on the cold floor. I could feel the blood running down my legs. _Stop him, Chris. Please stop him. _I prayed silently. That was when I noticed that the manacles had become loose. How the hell had that happened? I pushed them off my wrists and struggled to my feet. Where was I supposed to go from here? I couldn't just walk out of the mansion and due to the 'security' on this place I couldn't orb either. My eye caught on the book on its stand. I stumbled over to it, falling twice on the way. His…unique idea of torture had taken more out of me than I had first thought. I knew a few people who would no doubt tell me 'a strong body is nothing without a strong mind.' No doubt the same worked in reverse. There were faint markings on the wall; I wouldn't have to take time drawing it out again. I rifled through the pages looking for the right spell. But the page had been ripped out.

"No, god no. It has to be here." I whispered desperately. I picked up the book and flipped through the pages again. A piece of paper fell out on the floor, I picked it up. The spell was written out in Chris' hand. He had obviously hidden it in the book at some stage. I walked over to the wall and touched it briefly.

"Please work." I read the spell out loud. The door banged open behind me; I stared back over my shoulder. One of his lackeys entered the room, his jaw dropped when he saw what I was doing. Clutching the paper in one hand I turned back to the wall and dived at it. I closed my eyes tightly hoping that if the spell hadn't worked then I would at least hit my head hard enough to kill myself. I went right through crashing to the ground, hard.

I could hear voices and footsteps approaching. I rolled over onto my back. But for the moment that was all I could do. I watched as two sets of feet walked in and stopped, and then they moved towards me. I saw the portal close behind me.

"Who are you?" A familiar voice asked. I stared at him, but didn't answer.

"The questions can wait for later. Can't you see she's hurt, Leo? Heal her."

Leo shook his head then knelt next to me, hands spreading to heal my wounds. Now I had the strength to move, I skittered away from him.

"Get away from me!" I hissed. He turned to look at her again and then back to me.

"You're badly injured, let me heal you." He said.

"Like you ever cared before. Leave me alone." Then I thought of something else.

"Where's Chris?" He looked at her again, eyebrows raised in question.

"You know Chris?" He asked me.

"He's a friend of mine." I replied carefully.

"Chris!" Called Paige. A moment later he orbed into the room.

"What's the matter?" He asked her. She pointed to me, still lying on the floor. His eyes widened when he saw me.

"Grace? What are…what the fuck happened to you!" He asked dropping to his knees next to me.

"He did." I replied. It was answer enough.

"I told you not to go back there." He said even as he held his hands over me and I allowed him to heal the worst if my wounds.

"Had no choice. I needed to find a spell. Getting caught wasn't part of the plan."

"Shit! You should have listened to me, Grace."

"You don't think I know that already. Him doing this once to me was bad enough. I-"

"It's alright. He can't get you here." He said. I knew that Chris wasn't angry at me, just upset that this had happened again. No doubt he was blaming himself for not being there.

"Sleep." He passed a hand over my eyes and I was out.

(Second person POV)

"Who is she?" Leo asked.

"This is…Grace. She's from the same time as I am." Chris draped his jacket over her and lifted her easily.

"I'm going to put her in the spare room and finish healing her." He looked at his father, as if daring the elder to challenge what he was doing. His father made no such move, nor did Paige. He looked down at into her face as he carried her into the room and laid her gently on the bed. Even in sleep there was that fearful look on her face. _How could I let this happen to her again? _He wondered.

I woke up slowly. I looked around the room I was now in. It looked familiar and then I remembered from where. I was home, but it wasn't the way it should have been. I was the only one in here. I pushed the covers back and climbed out of the bed, going into the bathroom I got into the shower.

"Grace? Where are you?" Chris voice came from the bedroom.

"In the shower." I replied quietly.

"I've got some clothes here for you when you're finished." He said.

I wanted to wash away the dirty feeling. I washed myself with the shower gel, but the feeling remained. I scrubbed at myself, scrawling my nails hard over my skin until I started to draw blood. It did no good.

"You alright in there?" He asked.

I didn't answer him, to intent on trying to get it out of me. I laid my head against the tiles and I started crying. Chris must have heard me, because the next thing I see is his hand reaching into the shower with a large bath towel. I ignored him and then he pulled the curtain back and reached with his other hand to turn the water off. With a hiss he yanked his hand back as the water hit him.

"What are you doing! You're going to burn yourself!" He said. I stared at him, not really seeing him. He wrapped the towel around me and I didn't really notice that either.

"He wanted to know where the rest of us were." I said bitterly. He helped me out of the shower and back into the bedroom.

"Didn't tell him anything."

"What did you do to yourself, Grace?" His voice was shocked as he inspected and then healed the scrawl marks I had scratched into myself.

"I wanted to get rid of it, get rid of the him, get rid of the feeling. He wouldn't stop."

"Oh, Gracie." His voice was a whisper.

"You should have gone to dad. Told him what he was doing to you." He pulled a long sleeved t-shirt over my head. I didn't know why I couldn't dress myself.

"Not after what happened the last time." I said.

"Why did you come here?" He asked.

"The manacles came loose. No one can orb in or out of there anymore, you know that. And I couldn't just walk out. I used the spell that you left in the book. Couldn't think of anything else." I said.

"It could be worse here. You know that, right?" He asked. I leaped to my feet and walked across the floor.

"Worse! How the fuck could it be worse! Is there someone here who wants to torture me? Rape me? How could it be worse, Chris? Tell me!" I screamed at him. He came over to me, caught me in his arms and hugged me tight.

"That isn't what I meant. It's alright." He whispered.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled.

"It isn't your fault."

We went downstairs where Chris decided that I needed food. I shook my head at what he offered, it took him a few minutes to realise that there was nothing wrong with the food.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I'm not very hungry." I replied. He sighed as he poured some cereal in a bowl and drowned it in milk before setting it down on the counter in front of me.

"You have to eat something. You look like you haven't had anything to eat in a while." He said.

"You wouldn't feel like eating if you were me either." I mumbled.

"So this is our new arrival." I looked at the person in the doorway.

"Hello." I said unenthusiastically.

"This is Grace, Grace this is-" Chris started.

"Phoebe, I know who she is Chris." I said. I shoved a spoonful of the cereal in my mouth so I wouldn't have to say anymore and almost gagged, I swallowed hard.

"You want to come into the front room?" Phoebe asked. I glanced at Chris who shrugged. They started in the direction of the door and I just orbed. It's nice to be able to do that without having to worry about demons coming to get you. What I didn't count on was still being so weak that I collapsed when I orbed into the other room. I came to with Leo leaning over me.

"What happened?" I heard Chris ask as he came in with Phoebe.

"She passed out as soon as she orbed in here." Leo answered.

"You alright?" He put a hand on my shoulder and I looked at it and then glared at him until he removed it.

"Until I saw you." I snapped. I climbed slowly to my feet. He had a hurt look on his face. _Screw you. _I thought. I looked at Chris who came over and sat next to me on the sofa.

"You still haven't told us who she is." Paige said pointedly.

"She's just a friend. I told you." Chris said. I glanced at him.

"You might as well tell them. They're probably going to figure it out eventually anyway." I said. He sighed and nodded.

"She's my younger sister."


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2: Revelations

"And Leo and I…we're her…?" Piper said.

"Her parents? Yeah, you are." He said.

"But when did we get back together? How was she…?" Leo said.

"You came here to help Wyatt?" Piper asked me. I smiled bitterly at her.

"Not quite." I replied.

"Then why are you here?" She asked.

"I have my reasons." I said. Leo started pacing the floor.

"Time travel is something that shouldn't be done unless it's absolutely necessary. You're going to have to go back." He said.

"That's the kind of thing I'd expect you to say. You know nothing about where I was or-"

"She's not going back there." Chris interrupted me.

"She has to. Do you have any idea what could happen if she stays?" Leo asked. Chris glared at him.

"Grace was right when she said that you know nothing about what's back there. She stays right here." He said firmly.

"You guys have any more food?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"I thought you weren't hungry?" Chris asked.

"That was before. Never mind, I'll go find it myself." I said.

"It's probably better if you walked this time." He told me. With a sigh I stood up and walked out of the room. I came back with an apple.

"You still have some injuries that I couldn't heal. Maybe it had something to do with you being unconscious." Chris said.

"They can heal the normal way then, just like they did the last time." I said, taking a bite from the apple and hoping he wouldn't pursue it. But Chris isn't one to let anything lie, especially something like this.

"I'd prefer to try it while you're awake, that might have been the problem." He said.

"I don't want to talk about it." I snapped.

"Talk about what?" Leo asked.

"Oh, now you want to know." I said sarcastically. He gave me a blank look; he had no idea what I was talking about. I didn't care.

"Come on." Chris stood up. I stared up at him for a moment, then I followed him out of the room and upstairs into the same bedroom I had been in before. And then I stood there glaring at Chris. He knew I didn't want to do this. He turned too looked at me.

"You want to lie on the bed? It might be more comfortable for you." He said. I moved to the bed as I did so I heard Chris clearing his throat. I looked back at him, he was blushing.

"What?" I asked. He gestured with one hand.

"You'll have to take off your pants. I need to see what it is that I'm trying to heal." He mumbled. I stood frozen for a moment, and then I removed my jeans. I laid down on the bed facedown.

"Are you going to do it or not?" I asked. There was a long pause.

"I still can't see it. You're going to have to…spread your legs some more." He said.

"I thought you said that you tried this already?"

"I did."

"And it didn't work the first time. So why are you trying again?" I asked. I felt him put his hand on my shoulder.

"I know this is embarrassing for you. And I know you don't like it. I also know that it's hurting you a lot. If I can heal it then the pain will stop." He said. I lay silently for a moment. I sighed as I turned my face away from him and did as he told me.

"It's not working." He said after a long moment.

"I know that." I said, getting off the bed and pulling the jeans back on.

"Maybe I could get dad to-" he said. I interrupted him before he could finish.

"No."

"But he's an elder; he might be able to-"

"I said no, Chris." I snapped.

"No to what?" Leo's voice came from the doorway.

"How long have you been standing there?" Chris asked.

"I just got here. Piper wants to know if you're ready to go." He replied. I looked at Chris questioningly.

"To find a demon. We think he might be the one who turns Wyatt evil." He explained. He turned back to Leo.

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea with Grace-"

"I don't need a babysitter, Chris." I interrupted. He looked at me for a long moment, and then he nodded.

"Okay, you stay here with Wyatt." He said. I glared at him.

"I didn't come here to babysit him either." I said.

"I know that. But to vanquish this demon we need the power of three."

"Then why can't you stay with him?" I gestured in Leo's direction.

"Or maybe the father from hell could look after the perfect child." Leo gave me that look again; I glared right back at him.

"Stop it, Grace." Chris said.

"Stop what? I'm just supposed to ignore the fact that he-"

"I know, but this is important. We need someone to stay here with Wyatt just in case we're wrong. At the moment the only one who can do that is you." He said.

"Fine, I'll do it. Happy now?" I folded my arms over my chest and pouted.

"Thank you."

The others had been gone over an hour now and I had been left here with him. I looked at the small child in the playpen. He hung onto the edge of it and stared right back at me. It' hard toe believe that one so young and innocent looking could grow up to become the most evil person you know. Chris came into the room.

"What took you so long? Where are the others?" I asked. He shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

"They'll be here later." He replied.

"Great, you're turn to babysit." Without another word I walked from the room and up to the attic. Before he had left Chris had told me that I shouldn't orb or use magic unless absolutely necessary. I was used to it though, where I come from if you're a white lighter or a anyone else who isn't a demon you don't use magic, if you do you risk getting caught by demons. I figured since I was here anyway I should make it my business to look through the book. I flipped through the book, but I wasn't really reading anything in particular.

"Grace, can you hear me?" I whirled at the sound of the voice. A pale, translucent image of Paige stood behind me.

"Yeah, I can hear you. When are you guys going to come back here?" I asked.

"We can't orb out of here. We're on our way out, but it could take some time." Here gaze flicked to the empty playpen in the corner of the room.

"Where's Wyatt?"

"He's downstairs."

"You left him on his own?" She asked incredulously.

"No, I left him with Chris. He told me that you guys were coming ba…what's wrong?" I asked. She ignored me as she turned her head and said something to someone I couldn't see.

"Paige, what…?" I heard Wyatt screaming.

"Get back here now!" I yelled at Paige, then I sank through the floor; one of my many wonderful powers. I landed on the living room floor to see the demon that had passed himself off as Chris standing over Wyatt, desperately trying to get through his shield.

"Get away from him!" I said. I looked down at my hand which was completely empty, I muttered a curse and leaped at the demon and went right through him.

"Let me through Wyatt." I said. His shield disappeared and I grabbed him up. The demon let loose a ball of fire at me, which passed through me and Wyatt; it slammed into the wall behind me and exploded showering debris everywhere. Another demon appeared next to the first one.

"Hurry up, Chris." I muttered. I might have been able to take on one of them, but two? The second demon started muttering something and I had to strain to hear what it was.

"Destroy that power which would aid. They cannot be seen, or heard, or felt. They do not are not real. In time they will cease to exist." He said. He looked at the first demon and nodded, and then they both disappeared.

"What the hell was that supposed to be?" I wondered aloud. I glanced down at Wyatt who had calmed down a little. Chris orbed in with the others and looked around quickly, he moved quickly in the direction of the playpen.

"Where are they?" Paige asked.

"Look behind you." I said. She turned around.

"It must have been a trick." Piper said who stood right behind me. It was her that Paige was looking at, not me. Wyatt was holding his arms out to Leo who stood beside Chris next to the playpen. When his father didn't pick him up he started to yell. They all ignored him, and his screams grew louder. What was going on here? Why were they ignoring us?

"Don't get the wrong idea, Wyatt. I still hate you. But I'm all you get right now." I said to him. I looked at the others who were frantically searching for clues as to where we were.

"Would she take him away herself?" Leo asked Chris.

"No." He replied.

"Are you sure? She doesn't seem to be to…fond of him." Leo asked.

"She has reason not to like him. But she wouldn't do this. They must have been taken by demons." Chris said.

"No we weren't. We're rig…whoa!" I broke off as Phoebe walked right through me.

"Okay. Paige and Phoebe will look for them in the Underworld; question a few demons we know. Chris, can she orb?" Piper said. He nodded in answer.

"You and Leo will try to track her that way. I'll stay here; if either of them uses magic then I'll let you know."

"But we're right here!" I yelled. Wyatt jerked in my arms.

"It's okay." I soothed him. I followed Piper upstairs to the attic; or at least I tried to, my feet sank right through the stairs. I stepped back and tried again, same thing happened. _Just what the hell was happening here? _I wondered. I looked down at Wyatt, who stared back at me. While I may not like him all that much I knew that I couldn't leave him alone, what if a demon could enter this…wherever or whatever it was we were. We were also; apparently stuck on the ground floor. I turned around and nearly walked right into Leo, except for the fact that I walked right through him. It felt weird, like I'd just passed under a cold shower of water.

"You okay, dad?" Chris asked. After a moment Leo nodded.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." He replied. Phoebe and Paige reappeared in front of me.

"You found them already?" Leo asked. They both had confused looks on their faces.

"Found who?" Paige asked. Just then Piper came downstairs.

"What was I doing up there?" She asked. Leo looked at them in concern, and then glanced at Chris.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"We couldn't remember what we were doing in the Underworld." Phoebe said.

"You were looking for Grace and Wyatt." Leo asked. They looked at each other, then at him.

"Who are Grace and Wyatt?" Piper asked.

"They're you're children, remember?" Leo asked.

"I don't have any children. Well, except for Chris that is." Piper said. Almost as if he could sense the world was out of sync Wyatt started to cry. I started in the direction of the kitchen. The followed me into the kitchen.

"You want an apple?" I asked Wyatt. What the hell do you feed a baby anyway? I reached for the fruit bowl set on the countertop and watched it skid across the countertop. I heard Phoebe yelp and duck out of the way of the flying fruit bowl.

"What just happened!" She asked. I had forgotten that I couldn't seem to pick things up here, but why had it moved away from me instead of me moving right through it? Wyatt; who had started giggling at the flying fruit bowl, reached for Leo who was standing near us and he flew across the room and hit the wall.

"Demons!" Yelled Paige. I grabbed Wyatt's outstretched hand. Paige had taken up a potion in hand and the others were looking around the room for whatever threat was there. I stood perfectly still.

"That might have been a little bit of a mistake." I said to Wyatt. Leo stood up.

"Who's there!" He called.

"Y'know I could answer that, but not only do I not like you, but you wouldn't hear me anyway." I muttered. Paige threw the potion in our direction and it exploded, sending us crashing into the same wall that Leo had just hit.

"Got him!" She said.

"It must be an invisible demon." Piper said. Paige grabbed another potion and was getting ready to throw it at me. I had dropped Wyatt who had started screaming again. Babies do that a lot, as I was learning. If she threw that potion then it would hit him first. I flung my hand out.

"Potion!" I yelled. The potion disappeared from her hand and reappeared in mine. At least that was working.

"What…? What just happened?" Paige asked.

"Wyatt, come here." I said. He ignored me; instead he crawled in Leo's direction. Who was moving in ours and his foot accidentally hit him, sending Wyatt falling back. He started crying.

"Wyatt!" I grabbed him up and moved backwards fast and then moved behind Leo. I looked down at him.

"Yeah, I don't understand it either." I put the potion back on the counter, just as Paige came to prepare another one. She stared at the one I had just set down.

"It must be the demon that took Grace and Wyatt." Chris said.

"Stop it! There are no Grace and Wyatt." Piper snapped. Leo glanced at her.

"It must be some kind of spell. But who could do that?" He said. He caught Piper by the shoulders and looked her right in the eyes.

"They're your family, remember? Come on, you have to remember them!"


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3: Returning Home

Piper stood unmoving and then she blinked and shook her head, she nodded slowly. Whatever spell they had been under seemed to have come of Paige and Phoebe as well. I looked down at Wyatt again, who was now crying softly.

"I know, I'm getting kind of pissed of by this to. But food doesn't seem to like us at the moment." I said to him. Then I remembered orbing the potion, maybe I could orb us out of here and back…there, so that they could see us. I prayed this would work and then did it.

"We're back." I said. No one looked in my direction except for Leo and Chris, Leo then looked at his younger son.

"You got that to?" He asked.

"Yeah, she orbed in here. But if she orbed in here then where is she?" He said. Piper froze for a moment.

"A mimic demon, it must have been." She said.

"A mimic demon?" Chris asked.

"Yes. A mimic demon can mimic the power of any enemy; hence its name. But it can also force one of its enemies to overuse their power, causing their enemy to kill themselves or to use their power in various ways that they've never done before, resulting in different consequences." She explained.

"Looks like we might actually get out of here soon." I whispered at Wyatt's sleeping form.

"We'd better go look at the book." Phoebe said. They all hurried up the stairs.

"We'll just wait right here for you." I muttered. They came down a few minutes later and after a moment Leo orbed back into the room.

"Did you ask them?" Piper asked him.

"Yeah, it's very rare for a mimic to come out in the open and attack someone like this. They say that they're probably still here; they can hear us and see us. But we can't hear or see them. The Elders said that the mimic was probably working with a Shah demon, they are able to cast power specific spells." He said. My eyes were starting to close and I was all but falling asleep on my feet, so I made for the sofa and moved to sit down in it. It flew out from under me and crashed into the wall, I landed on my butt. Wyatt awake with a start, sniffling and sounding like he was going to start crying.

"Shh, it's okay, go back to sleep." I whispered. Chris, Leo and the others stared at the sofa, then Leo cleared his throat.

"They also said that not long after the spell was cast over them that they wouldn't be able to touch or go near anything without that object flying away from them." He said.

"I knew that already, thanks." I muttered.

"So how do we break the spell on them?" Chris asked.

"We have to kill the mimic demon." Piper said.

"Or maybe we can look forward to some company here." I whispered to myself.

"You better do it quickly. According to the Elders they have twenty four hours before they disappear forever." Leo said. _Okay, I didn't need to know that part. _I thought.

"Well we already had a little chat with the one we think is this demon. He should still be in the same place; the problem is that he's not alone." She said.

"You guys are just filled with good news today, aren't you?" I said. I sat down in the middle of the floor, figuring that it couldn't fly away from us; I was right. I hugged Wyatt close to me as I lay down. Might as well get some sleep, it wasn't like I could do much else.

I woke up to the sound of Wyatt yelling. He had crawled away from me and was now sitting staring fearfully up at a demon that stood over him. I leaped to my feet.

"Leave him alone!" I yelled. A ball of energy grew in my hand as I threw it at the demon, but he moved out of its way and it exploded against the wall. At the sound Chris and Leo came running into the room.

"What's going on?" Chris asked. He and Leo looked around; they still couldn't see or hear us.

The demon leaped at me and I phased, he passed right through me. I ran for Wyatt and crouched next to him, an invisible hand slammed me across the room, where I slammed into the coffee table, and it broke under my weight. Another ball of energy flew at the demon as he moved to grab up Wyatt, it exploded against him, but that was all. He glared over at me.

"Stupid White Lighter." He snarled. He lifted one hand in my direction and I flew up into the air, it felt like a vice was wrapped around my chest.

"I'm not finished with you yet." He said to Wyatt. Then he strode over in my direction. I hung above him, unable to break free, I had tried phasing through whatever it was he had done to me, it hadn't worked, and neither did orbing.

"Still in the game." I said to him. It had been something Chris and I used to say to each other when we were kids. He stared up at me, incomprehension clear in his eyes. I clapped my hands over his head and concentrated, power surged from my fingertips right into his skull. He jerked and spasmed, but managed to pull away. He lurched backwards towards Wyatt. A sword appeared in his hands that he brought crashing down against Wyatt's shield.

"No!" I screamed at his back. This could be the demon that turns Wyatt evil. He looked back at me and smiled. Then he suddenly started screaming, as his flesh started to writhe, then he exploded. I dropped to the floor. I didn't waste time trying to figure out what had happened.

"Wyatt!" I yelled and crawled frantically in his direction, I breathed a sigh of relief when I found him unharmed, but he was still crying.

"It's okay, he's gone now. It's alright." I could hear a whispering in my ears, that of my mother and aunts as they were vanquishing the mimic demon, but I didn't know that at the time. Then it felt like a wave of warm air washed over me.

"There they are." Chris said.

"The girls did it." Leo said as they came over to us. I handed a screaming Wyatt to him and stood up.

"Are you both alright?" Chris asked. I dusted myself off as I smiled at him, pretending that nothing was out of the ordinary.

"I'm fine, but he's hungry. You better go and feed him." Leo nodded and walked to the kitchen with his son.

"Are you alright?" Chris asked as soon as we were alone.

"I told you already I'm fine." I snapped.

"No you're not. Look, I know it isn't easy to think of him as an innocent, but he isn't the Wyatt we know. If we can stop whatever demon's after him then he won't turn evil and that means that he will be a totally different person." He said.

"I know that. Why do you think that I didn't just leave him to that demon that attacked us just before they broke the spell!" I was in a bad mood because I knew he was right. He sighed loudly, as he put both hands on my shoulders, forcing me to look him in the eyes.

"I know this is hard. But if we do this right then…" He didn't finish, he didn't need to.

"That doesn't mean I have to like either of them." I said.

"I'm not asking you to. But they are family, so don't kill them or anything." He said.

"I'm not the one who forgot we're family." I muttered to myself.

"You should go get some sleep. You look like you could do with it." He told me. I opened my mouth to argue with him then decided against it.

"And don't orb."

I glared at him and did the exact opposite of what he said, orbing straight upstairs to the bedroom. I heard his sigh as I left the room and felt a little guilty, I loved my brother. I've had a lot of times where I felt like no one wanted to know about me. He wasn't like that; whenever I had a problem or I was upset he seemed to know and would talk it over with me. I kicked the bed in frustration. _Why do you have to make him angry? He's the only one who cares about you and you try and alienate him! _I thought angrily. I glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was past midnight, I hadn't thought it was that late. I peeled off the jeans, kicked off my runners and crawled under the covers. I guess I was more tired than I thought I was because I was asleep within moments.


	4. Chapter 4

The poem is Dark Claws by Scarlet faerie.

In this chapter I'm going to flip from first person to second person POV, just to confuse and annoy y'all…well alright, when I was writing this I was kind of looking at it from both Graces and Chris's (and others maybe) POV. So that's how it's coming out. And it's going to be confusing, when I was reading it over I was really (which isn't hard I might add). A few sentences I had the first and second POV and that was really : S…

Part 4: Waking Nightmares; part 1.

The claws that captured my blackened heart

I can still feel those hands

It was one of Wyatt's favourite games to play; invite some demons to have some fun with me and he'd watch. The first time he had done that was a few years ago. That was before he had ever raped me himself. The first time it had been forced on me.

I was having a nightmare and I didn't realise it. The only difference was that I was the age I am now. Wyatt came over and removed the blindfold that he had put over my eyes. He sat down in a chair, straddling it, watching me through half lidded eyes. I had no idea what he was doing, or what he was waiting for. And yet a part of me knew exactly what was going to happen and it terrified me because I knew I couldn't get away. I stared up at the demons that grouped themselves around me. I struggled against them. Hands gripped my arms, ensuring that I wouldn't be able to fight them off. Not that it would have mattered; they were much stronger than I was. The first demon moved in front of me. Claws dug into my hips, as he thrust painfully into me. I cried out. And then another demon moved behind me, ramming into me from behind. I shrieked in pain. Screaming at the agony that they were causing me.

((Second person POV))

The door to the room banged open and Piper hurried in. She froze at the sight that greeted her. Graces body was covered in a sheen of sweat, she jerked and writhed fitfully, the sheets tangled around her. Piper moved towards the bed, but she stopped again at the words that came from the sleeping figure.

"Help me! Wyatt! Don't let them do this to me!" She screamed. Then Chris arrived, not seeming to even see Piper as he ran to the bed and grabbed Graces hands that were outstretched in a gesture of supplication.

"Wake up." He said loudly. She continued twisting and jerking.

"Grace. Wake up, Grace. You're having a nightmare." My eyes finally snapped open and she jerked her hands back. I smacked him hard in the face. He didn't seem to notice. I skittered backwards across the bed from him, my eyes wide and terrified. He glanced back at Piper.

"Go back to bed. I've got it."

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Just go!" He snapped. He didn't have time to worry about being polite right now. He caught one of Graces hands again, the other going to the side of her face.

"Let me go!" I screamed at him.

"You had a nightmare again. It's alright, it's over now." He said. She shook her head frantically.

"N…no. The demons and W…Wyatt…they were right here. I saw them." I whispered. He pulled me into his arms and hugged me tightly. I shuddered against him and took a shaky breath.

"I can still feel their hands. Touching…all over me. Couldn't…couldn't get away. Hate…hate…" I trailed off.

"You hate him, I know." He finished. I shook my head. How can you make someone understand how you feel inside when they've never had the same experience?

"N…no, hate myself." I whispered. He looked down at me in shock and I closed my eyes not wanting to see his face.

He sat with me for a long time and after I had managed to calm down a little he stood up to leave. I held onto him tightly.

"Don't leave me." I begged him.

"Sleep with me tonight. Please?

"Grace, I can't." He whispered.

"Please, Chris. You don't understand. It's been so long since I got sleep that you or someone else didn't force on me." I said.

"Grace…" He trailed off. I wouldn't let him go.

"Just tonight. I can't…I'm afraid of sleeping. I'm afraid of sleeping and having those nightmares again. When you're here it's not so bad." There I'd finally said it.

He looked undecided; he knew it was something that he shouldn't be doing, especially not the way he was feeling about her.

"Okay," he said finally.

"But just for tonight." He slid under the covers. He wished he had decided to wear something other than a t-shirt and boxers for sleeping in.

I curled against him; I laid my head on his chest. After a moment I felt his arm slide across my shoulder as he hugged me close.

Chris stared down at her. He knew she was still afraid, he could feel her body trembling against him. He had thought she was asleep when he heard her take a deep breath and knew I was trying to tell him something.

They left me with that tearing lie

Sinking into my anguish

"He'd just watch sometimes. He had this disgusting smile on his face. I can remember once askin him why he did that and he said he enjoyed it, he enjoyed watching me struggle and knowing that I couldn't stop them, that they were just going to do it anyway and I was just the receptacle. What does that mean?" I looked up at him. It took him a moment that she was waiting for him to answer and he didn't want to, but he also knew that she'd keep pressing him until he told her.

"A receptacle is something that holds things." It was the best way he could think of describing it. He could feel me nodding against his chest.

"Then sometimes, he'd do other stuff first. Like just before I got here, he was whipping me, but every time the whip hit me he'd send a charge through it. I don't think he really wanted to know where they were, he just enjoyed causing me pain. He wouldn't just use the whip on me, he'd burn me. He had this kind of a metal rod that he'd tie my arms to so that it was pressed against my back and then he'd heat it up." I said. He nodded imperceptibly; he had seen the burn mark that had been on her arms and across her shoulders, now he knew how it had gotten there.

"He wouldn't let me have food for days and then he'd complain that I was really thin. I told him once that was his fault cos he wouldn't feed me. And so he decided to punish me." I took a deep shuddering breath.

"And that's when he just left me there, for hours, days…with this thing stuck in my…stuck in me! I couldn't get it out! No matter what I did or which way I turned it hurt even more." I paused again. It disgusted him, he knew Wyatt was capable of such things, he had heard the stories. But to do this to his own sister! He didn't want to hear this. But she wanted to talk about it and if he didn't listen then the chances were that she wouldn't tell anyone, she'd just bottle it all up inside. He didn't have any advice he could offer, all he could do was be here for her and maybe that was all she wanted.

"He kept telling me that all I had to do was join evil. Join him and it would all end. All I had to do was say that I would change over and he'd stop them and that he wouldn't hurt me anymore." I stopped speaking again and took a deep breath, opened my mouth to start again and then shut it. I closed my eyes tightly and then looked up at him, he stared down at me and his eyes were filled with compassion.

"Want to know the worst thing? I wanted to so badly. I wanted it to stop. If that meant turning evil then I would have done that. I just wanted them to go away and leave me alone. I was so scared, Chris, so scared. I don't know what made me, but I didn't. I don't know why and I keep thinking that maybe I should have, because then it wouldn't have kept going on. But if I had then…" I stopped again.

"You had already given him everything else. Joining him would have been like giving up the last part of yourself. And even if you did that then there was no real guarantee that he would stop." He hugged me tightly.

"He was trying to break you."

"I think he did." I whispered.

"No, he didn't. He tried and failed. He tried the same thing with me." He said. I pushed myself up on his chest and looked him in the eye.

"He did the same thing to you?" I asked. He shook his head and looked a little abashed.

"Not the same thing. I mean he tried to get me to join him. You're stronger than you know, Gracie. Because if he'd done the same sort of things to me that he did to you then I might have turned to evil." He said. _Thank god he didn't, _he thought. Every word he spoke was true.

"No, I'm not. I stopped fighting against him not long after he got me the first time. How is that being strong?" I asked.

"When you struggled against him did he do what he wanted anyway?" He asked.

"Yeah, and it was worse, more painful. But I don't understand how that would have made a difference." I replied.

"There's your answer. He was going to do it anyway, so what was the point in fighting it?" He asked. I shrugged; I didn't have an answer to that.

"I still hated it. Not just because of the pain, but because…y'know?" I said.

"Go to sleep. I'll be right here when you wake up." He said. I snuggled closer to him, feeling safe and protected and loved.

Sinking into my anguish

Now every night I hide


	5. Chapter 5

And once again I'm going to go from first person POV to second with no warning…welcome to my demented little world where everything is confusing.

Part 4: Waking Nightmares, part 2.

Fearful ears listening for those carpeted footsteps

My life has become an empty cell

We walked into the kitchen the next morning. Piper was already there and so was Phoebe. Phoebe smiled at me.

"Feeling better this morning?" She asked compassionately. I nodded silently as I sat down at the table. Where Piper set a plate in front of me without a word. Leo orbed into the room and sat down across from me. There was a conversation going on around me, but I didn't pay any attention and I didn't participate in it.

"Okay, I cook; the rest of you can clean up." Piper announced. I stacked plates and brought them to the sink where I started washing up. I was staring down into the sudsy water when I was hit with a flashback.

(Flashback)

_I'd finally escaped from him. I stood just outside the cafe for a few minutes, debating whether I should go in or not. I didn't want to be on my own. I walked inside slowly and sat down at the table where my father was already seated. He looked at me as I sat down opposite him. His eyes widened at my appearance._

"_What happened to you?" He asked. Was that actually concern I heard in his voice?_

"_Wyatt's turned to evil. He did this to me." I said. He stayed silent for a long moment, and then shook his head._

"_Wyatt wouldn't do that." He said._

"_It was Wyatt." I repeated._

"_He's your brother. There is no way that he'd hurt you, you're family." He said._

"_Someone forgot to tell him that. Why would I lie about it?" I asked._

"_Maybe he was playing around with you and you got hurt. It was probably just an accident."_

"_It was no accident what he did to me. He knew what he was doing."_

"_Come with me." My father stood up and gestured that I should follow._

"_Where are we going?" I asked. I hurried to catch up with him as he went down a side alley; my father put his hand on my shoulder._

"_Follow me." He ordered._

"_Where are-" we appeared outside the manor._

"_we going?" I finished. I turned incredulous eyes on my father._

"_What are you doing!" He pulled me up the front steps behind him._

"_You and Wyatt need to sort this out amongst yourselves. You can't come running to me every time you two have a fight." He banged on the door and it was opened by Wyatt. He smiled when he saw who it was; like he didn't know already._

"_Dad! What are you doing here? Come in." He said. My father dragged me inside._

"_I found your sister out roaming the streets. She says that you did this to her," my father pointed at the injuries on my face and exposed arms._

"_I want you two to sort this out. I don't have time for this stuff." He turned to me._

"_Your brother is looking after you. You're eleven years old, Grace. You're a child. I want you to do whatever he tells you. What he's doing is for your own good." I stared at him, not quite believing his words. He smiled at Wyatt._

"_I appreciate what you're doing, Wyatt. I just don't seem to have much time with all the stuff that's going on at the moment. I've got to go. Listen to what your brother says, Grace." He looked at me warningly. What little courage I had in the presence of my eldest brother came out._

"_No! I'll go with you. You won't even know I'm there. Please?" I begged._

"_Stop it, Grace! I don't have time for this." He snapped._

"_Please, daddy. I swear I won't bother you or anything. Daddy!" I screamed as he orbed away. I turned fearful eyes on Wyatt. He shook his head, smiling._

"_You shouldn't have done that, Grace. Now I'm going to have to punish you." He said. He grabbed me by the arm._

"_Noooo! Help me, Daddy! Don't leave me here with him! Daddy!" I screamed._

(End flashback; for you, not Grace)

"Noooo! Help me, Daddy! Don't leave me here with him. Daddy!" I screamed. I dropped the plate and it smashed into pieces as it hit the floor. Leo caught her by the arms as she collapsed to the floor, muttering words that made no sense to him.

"Grace!" He snapped. She ignored him, fighting against the hold his hands had on her.

"Let me go." She whimpered.

"What is it? What's wrong?" He asked. She struggled against him briefly, and then went completely limp, eyes staring into nothingness. Chris orbed into the kitchen, he had obviously heard her screaming.

"What happened?" He asked. Leo glanced back at him, he shrugged helplessly.

"I don't know. She started screaming, something about not to leave her here with him." He replied. Chris nodded once and came over to them. But suddenly she came back to herself.

"Leave me alone!" I screamed in Leo's face.

"Get away from me!" Then I orbed away. As soon as I got where I was going I hid myself from them so that neither Chris nor Leo would be able to find me. I sat down and stared down into the ocean.

(Halliwell mansion)

"What was that about?" Leo asked. Chris stared at him for a long time; he wanted to go after her sister. She had hidden herself as soon as she orbed, but he knew where she was.

"Are you sure you want to know?" He asked.

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't." Leo snapped back. He was sick and tired of having her completely ignoring him, or if she chose to acknowledge him at all then she was sniping at him, backhanded comments that made no real sense to him.

"Okay," Chris said. He thought for a moment about how to explain in the shortest time. He needed to go after her, make sure she was okay.

"She really has reason to hate me, doesn't she?" Leo asked.

"You could say that. She never really told me what it was that you said or did, but from what I've been able piece together she went to you. She told you what was going on, what Wyatt was doing to her. You refused to believe a word she said. In fact your way of helping her was to bring her straight back to Wyatt and telling her that she had to sort it out with him and to stop coming to you every time she had a problem."

"So they had an argument and she refused to back down. That happens with brothers and sisters." Leo said. Chris shook his head and glared at his father.

"You don't get it do you? Believe me she has more reason than anyone here to make sure Wyatt doesn't turn evil. She showed you the injuries he had inflicted on her. He tortured her, starved her, and wouldn't let her leave the house. He kept her locked in the attic where almost every day she was raped by him or by demons while he watched. She begged you to help her and you brought her right back to him!" Chris was getting really angry now. His father had a look of disbelief on his face.

"The second time she escaped she didn't ask anyone for help. That was what you did to her! You made her believe that anyone she turned to would just bring her back there. I found her less than a week after she escaped from him." Chris closed his eyes in pain, remembering exactly what had happened.

(Flashback)

_He walked down the street; the eighteen year old was on his way to meet another member of the resistance. He saw her then, she wore clothes that were to big for her and she moved as if she carried the weight of the world on her small shoulders._

"_Grace!" He called. Her head came up and she stared at him, the look of a scared rabbit who's about to get caught by the fox and knows that they can't escape. She turned and started running away from him. He froze for a moment, he and his sister had always been close and that certainly wasn't the reaction he had been expecting._

"_Grace!" He ran after her. It didn't take him long to catch up to her and he grabbed her by the arm. _

"_Grace, stop. It's me, Chris." He said._

"_I won't let you take me back there!" She screamed. He let her go and she turned to face him._

"_Why aren't you with Wyatt?" He asked. He could see her eyes move away from his and knew she was lying when she answered._

"_I just came out for a while." She said._

"_Grace. I know you're lying. Just tell me the truth, I'm not going to get angry or make you go back if you don't want to." He said. She stared at him for a long moment, and then made a move to dash past him. He caught her before she could; pulling her back against him so she couldn't run off again._

"_Let me go!" She howled. Whatever it was that made her leave the mansion must have been really bad if she was reacting this way._

"_Tell me what happened." He said. Her head moved and he saw her looking up into his eyes as if trying to figure out if she could trust him and he could see the fear in her grey eyes. Then she renewed her struggles, he had his arms wrapped around her and was holding her tightly._

"_Let me go, Chris!" She yelled._

"_Not until you tell me what's wrong." He said. She struggled even harder against him, but he wasn't letting go. Eventually she stopped. _

"_I'm not going back there." She whispered._

"_You don't have to." He told her._

"_Can't…can't do it anymore. I don't want him to." Her voice was hopeless. He knew that despite the fact that he had told her he wouldn't make her go back if she didn't want to that she fully believed he was going to make her anyway. _

"_What are you talking about?" He asked. She bent her head down and he could see down the neck of her oversized t-shirt and the burn that marred the skin there._

"_What did he do to you?" He asked gently. She let out a long sigh and collapsed back against him, he could feel her small body trembling and then she started crying, great heaving sobs that tore into his very soul._

(End flashback)

Leo stared at him for a long time; unable to quite believe what Chris was telling him. But he knew the younger Whitelighter wasn't lying, that much was clear from the look on his sons face.

"You know how long it is since she laughed? I mean really laughed. I'd give anything just to hear that sound again, but I can't because it was taken away and you helped that to happen. That's another reason I came back; to stop Wyatt from turning evil, because then he wouldn't be able to hurt her like he did. She didn't deserve what he did to her." Chris said.

"Where is she now?" Leo asked.

"I think that you're the last person she needs right now. We'll be back later." Chris said and orbed away.

I heard someone orb in behind me, I didn't even turn my head to look.

"Go away, Chris. I want to be by myself for a while." I said. He ignored my words as he sat down next to me.

"I'm serious, Chris."

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" He asked.

And I am the prisoner

My wings have flown away

"Why do you do this?" I asked.

"Do what?"

"Most people probably would have just given up and said to hell with me. When something's wrong you listen to whatever it is that's bothering me and I know that sometimes you just want to put your fingers in your ears and pretend that everything's all right. You keep coming back; I didn't know you could read minds." I said and smiled humorlessly at him.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"You seem to know that what I sometimes say is the exact opposite of what I actually mean." I explained. He shrugged his shoulders.

"I have no idea. I just know that you're hurting on the inside; I also know that you don't like talking about it. You know I'm here to listen to you no matter what it is you want to say, right?" He said. He looked over at his sister, her head was bowed and I was staring down into the water. I nodded once.

"That's what I'm talking about. You keep listening to me and I know I'm not always the easiest person to get along with." I shrugged my shoulders and looked over at him; I had to squint because the sun was in my eyes.

"I'm taking it all out on you and other people and it isn't your fault. I don't know how to…not be angry. I just…" I stopped trying to find the right words wasn't easy. Chris didn't interrupt; he just waited for me to continue. My shoulders slumped as it finally dawned on me just what exactly it was I was trying to do.

"I feel tainted. I feel I let him do that stuff to me and I should be on my own. I don't deserve people like you, good people. I sometimes feel like I've betrayed you and because of that I don't deserve to be treated in the way that you treat me. Like all I deserve is to be locked in that attic and for him to do that stuff to me, for the rest of my life. Because that's all I'm good for anyway. Maybe he got what he wanted and that was to make me afraid of sleeping, afraid of trusting people, afraid to be on my own and at the same time I'm afraid of being with people because then they'll see me for what I really am; a miserable person who doesn't deserve to be free." He moved closer to me and put one arm around me, I laid my head on his shoulder.

"I'll make a deal with you." He said. I looked up at him.

"What kind of deal?" I asked.

"You know I love you, right?" He asked.

"I don't deserve that either." I whispered.

"Yes you do. Here's the deal. I'll love you enough until you can start to love yourself again, okay?" He said.

"How did you know that I didn't…?" I trailed off. He shrugged his shoulders.

"It isn't too hard to figure out. So do we have a deal or what?" He asked.

"I guess so." I mumbled. I didn't really believe that I'd ever be able to love myself, but if it would keep him happy then I was going to try. I guess I've been like that for a long time. Other people can tell me to do stuff and I'll just ignore them. If Chris asked me to do something I'd usually just do it, no questions asked.

"Not good enough. I want you to actually say that like you mean it." He said. I groaned loudly and then nodded.

"Okay, okay we have a deal. Happy now?" I said.

"Very. You want to go back now?" He asked. I nodded and we orbed back home.

And my soul lays scattered,

Flung into broken memories.


	6. Chapter 6

Part 5: House Hockey

I had been here now for almost a week now. I hadn't seen Leo since I had talked to Chris on top of the Golden Gate, I was glad for that. So I wasn't very happy when he orbed into the kitchen where I was helping my mother cook; or rather trying to help her cook. One thing was for certain I was never going to get a job as a four star chef. I had never known her; she had died less than two weeks after I was born. I'm not feeling sorry for myself, but it can be tough when you don't have a woman to spend time with and talk to about those things that you can feel embarrassed to talk about with a guy. Don't get me wrong; Chris was great and I could tell him anything, but it was nice to be able to talk to my mother about stuff. I was even calling her mom, the first few times I did it was kind of weird. I was just enjoying the time I had with her.

I had also become a little more at ease with myself and those around me; I wasn't sniping as much as I had. I still had a long way to go, but it was a start.

Needless to say I wasn't very happy when Leo orbed in and interrupted our little get together. He looked like he hadn't slept since I'd last seen him. _Not my problem. _ I thought. I turned back to the chicken and turned the gas up higher under it; like it made any difference it was still going to be raw in the middle. What I didn't count on was the pan setting fire. Flames shot upward, engulfing me. I could hear Leo and mom shouting and then the fire went out.

"Are you alright, honey?" Mom asked me. She checked me over for signs of any burns and found none.

"I phased out, I'm fine. I told you that I was no good at cooking." I said accusingly.

"Anyone can cook if they put in the effort." She said.

"I don't like it, mom." I informed her.

"Okay, well cooking isn't for everyone." She said. Leo had been standing there all along, watching our interaction.

"Piper, would you mind giving me and Grace some time alone?" He asked. I looked up at that.

"She might not, but I do." I said. He didn't seem all that perturbed by my rudeness.

"I know. I don't blame you." He said. I gave him that look that all teenagers have probably given their parents a few times 'you have no idea'.

"Fine," I muttered. My mother glanced at me as she left he kitchen. I held out my hand.

"Coke." I said. A can of cola appeared in my hand. I wasn't so lazy that I couldn't be bothered walking over to refrigerator. To be honest I was doing it to annoy Leo and I figured this might do it. I was a little deflated when he didn't comment on it at all.

"You came here to talk, so talk." I said rudely. He flinched a little at my tone I felt a little guilty for them, but in my mind he deserved it. I popped open the can and took a sip, waiting for him to start speaking.

"I wanted to apologise." He said.

"What for?" I asked.

"For not being there for you when you needed me to be." He said.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. I hadn't said anything to him about what he had done to me in the future, so I didn't understand where he was going with this.

"I know what Wyatt did to you there. You asked me to help you and I didn't even listen to you, I'm sorry for that." He said.

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"After what happened a few days ago I asked Chris what it was that I had done that would make you hate me so much."

"Chris should have kept his mouth shut." I snapped.

"I want you to know that I would never do that to you." He even managed to make it sound like he meant it, but I knew better.

"You're forgetting something." I said.

"What's that?"

"You already did do it to me, so what I want to know is if you're trying to convince me or yourself."

"I…" He paused and started again.

"It's hard to admit that one of your own children could do that to someone."

"Do what exactly?" I wasn't going to even try making this any easier for him.

"Come on, you can say it. You found it hard to believe that your own son could torture, rape and generally make life an absolute living hell for someone. So instead you betrayed someone, you brought that person right back into the lions den and left them to fend for themselves. Because you didn't want to know. And not just anybody but your own daughter. That's what you you're trying to say, right Leo?" There was no way in hell I was going to call him dad. He mumbled something.

"You're going to have to speak up because I didn't quite catch that."

"Yes, but I wouldn't have put them quite in those words." He said a little louder.

"Yeah, but then you don't like having to deal with the truth, do you?" I asked sarcastically.

"And that's what I'm sorry for." He said. I shrugged my shoulders as if it didn't matter to me.

"Don't be, there's no reason for you to apologise. We all make choices in this life good and bad." I said. His shoulders slumped in obvious relief.

"That's good, I'm glad we talked this over." He said.

"You see what you don't get is that I don't need to forgive you, forgiving someone means that they've hurt us and I'll admit I hated you for what you did to me." I continued as if he hadn't said anything.

"It's okay to hate people. We all hate someone." He said. I smiled at him, a smile that held no warmth.

"I don't hate you. If people hurt you like you did me then you're not likely to want to like them very much, but I don't care anymore. I'm stuck here for the foreseeable future so I'm going to have to put up with you. Hating someone takes up a lot of energy, so I put in a lot of work into that in the last few days. I don't hate you anymore. I've become indifferent. You can do whatever it is you want, just do me a favour and don't do it around me." I stalked out of the kitchen and left him there on his own.


End file.
